Other coffee brewing devices became popular throughout the nineteenth century, including various machines using the vacuum principle. The Napier Vacuum Machine, invented in 1840, was an early example of this type. While generally too complex for everyday use, vacuum devices were prized for producing a clear brew, and were popular up until the middle of the twentieth century.
Breville's 12-cup Precision Brewer is stacked with features that allow you to fully customize your coffee, like adjustable brew temperature, bloom time, strength and more. It also has settings for making cold brew, iced coffee, or the Specialty Coffee Association's standard Golden Cup. It's beautifully designed thanks to its sleek brushed stainless steel exterior and LED-lit digital display. Just note that you'll have to spend time exacting your preferred settings, especially when you first set it up.

If all you’re looking for is a gorgeous cup of coffee and no fuss, we strongly recommend the Bonavita BV1900TS. It’s the smallest machine among our top picks and, at $190, the cheapest. Even better, it ranked in the top three out of 10 during our taste tests. It’s also the simplest and most straightforward: one button you click to start brewing, and that’s it. You can’t program brew times; you can’t play around with water temperature; and it even lacks some convenient touches like a brew basket that attaches to the machine (when you’re done brewing, you have to place the brew basket on a plate or in the sink before it makes a total mess). But it’s by far the fastest machine out of our top picks, brewing up a full eight-cup pot in under six minutes. It’s a straightforward, high-end coffee maker that leaves little to complain about.

It also automatically pre-infuses the coffee, allowing the grounds to vent their CO2 and “bloom.” Remember, only half of the machines we tested had this feature, and it proved to pay off in our taste tests. The four machines we recommend all pre-infuse. Only one coffee maker without it, the Hamilton Beach, performed well at all in our taste tests — but that guy was so cheap and flimsy, part of the brew basket broke during our testing. Sorry, Hamilton Beach.
This is an easy-to-use coffee maker that'll add some retro style to your countertop. It includes a pause-and-pour feature for times when you need caffeine before the brewing process is done — and after brewing, it keeps your coffee piping hot for 40 minutes (you can monitor the length of time on the indicator gauge on the front display). Available in black, cream, white and red.
“Last night was a perfect test of the single-cup concept. I had already programmed and prepped my 3 a.m. standard coffee brew, however, I still wanted a cup of coffee. I switched over to the single cup and brewed my cup, then switched back and pressed the program button to ensure it would still brew the main pot at 3 a.m. Worked like a charm!! Before, I would have had to brew the entire eight cups that were ready, toss out most of it, and set up my morning brew all over again.”
6 month warranty for Spinn Original, Original Plus, and Original pro. If your machine is defective (DOA) when you receive it, we’ll make it right immediately. For US customers, if it develops a problem later that’s our fault, we’ll either (at our option) ship you the parts that need to be replaced along with detailed instructions, or ship it back to us for repair or replacement – in either case, for free, including shipping. For international customers, parts and repairs are free, but shipping is not included. The warranty covers everything except water filters. Unfortunately, if you modify your firmware, we can’t cover your Spinn under warranty (because it’s easy to break your Spinn by modifying your firmware!)
The point of getting a great machine is that it takes the fuss out of your coffee making — if you’re going to fiddle around so much, why not just get a Chemex? But our refrain throughout this entire review has been that a coffee maker is only one part of the good-cup equation. Some methodical experimentation could reveal a whole world of taste you never knew you could achieve.
CR’s take: If you’re an aficionado of fresh ground coffee, this Black+Decker is the brewer to buy. As the name suggests, the Mill & Brew goes that extra mile, grinding whole coffee beans just before brewing. As a result, the machine is capable of making a great pot of coffee. Made of plastic with stainless steel accents, this model is easy to use and to clean, earning a Very Good rating in our convenience tests. It allows you to adjust brew strength, and it’s programmable, so you can set it to grind and brew just before you wake up.